“Homelessness & Affordability Crisis”

Despite a desperate need for new housing, Canada’s developers are building fewer homes than they were at the height of pandemic lockdowns, a new study says – and experts say that could mean a generation of Canadians won’t be able to afford homes for most of their adult lives.

Inflation and the Bank of Canada’s response to it, has been the main reason for the slowdown, according to David Macdonald, a senior economist with the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (CCPA).

The new decline in housing development started last year, when the Bank of Canada started to raise interest rates to cool the economy and combat inflation, Macdonald found in a new report for CCPA.

Look what Volkswagen and Stelantis got. Makes sense to have Junior come begging.

In July, 2020, Bank of Canada Governor Tiff Macklem assured Canadian households that borrowing rates were very low and would stay that way “for a very long time.”

And by all appearances, it looked like he would be right. The economy was in shambles amid widespread shutdowns and sky-high unemployment because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Many turned to government financial supports to afford basic necessities and keep businesses afloat. Inflation remained low.

Bad but then there’s … Brampton landlord renting out sad room where you can’t eat meat or drink in the house

The 2023 homeless count has shattered the stereotypes of where people are living without a home, and who is at risk of being unsheltered.

No longer an urban issue, the count released Thursday shows huge increases in homeless people in the suburbs. For the first time, the number of unsheltered was up in every city across the region: An increase of 159 per cent in Delta, 91 per cent in Richmond, and 86 per cent in the Tri-Cities since the last count in 2020.

Agrowing majority of Canadians believe owning a home has become a privilege that can only be afforded by the rich, a new poll suggests, with nearly three-quarters of those surveyed agreeing.

The Ipsos poll conducted exclusively for Global News and released Friday further suggests two-thirds of Canadians have given up on ever owning a home. That number has also risen since the spring.

“Instead of the dream of homeownership, it is turning into a nightmare for an entire generation of Canadians,” said Sean Simpson, Ipsos’ vice-president of public affairs.

As the fallout from the Bank of Canada’s interest rate hikes continues, fewer homes are being built today compared to the lowest point in the pandemic — the 2020 lockdowns — and it’s going to get worse, an economist says.

The provincial government has repeatedly claimed that Ontario needs to free up more land to build houses, but according to the report, lack of land is not the issue. Instead, the report from the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives finds that building has slowed because inflation and the high cost of materials has made home building less profitable for developers, and there are fears the market will slow due to higher mortgage rates.

TORONTO – From ultra-low interest rates that led to a huge spike in real estate demand(opens in a new tab) to the speed with which interest rates shot up to levels not seen in a generation, it’s been hard to keep up with the shifting landscape for mortgage holders.

Now, with interest rates increasingly expected to stay higher for longer, many of the homeowners who locked in low rates years ago are likely bracing themselves for financial pain as their mortgage comes up for renewal.

Canadore College President George Burton answered 20 minutes worth of questions Thursday morning from local media in hopes of what he says will set the record straight.

A shortage of affordable housing, the opioid crisis and the lingering effects of the pandemic have contributed to a rise in visible homelessness. Ten Montrealers share their stories.

At the camp where Conrad has spent the last three years of his life, everything has its place. A fuzzy red bath mat, a towel and a couple of sweaters hang on a clothesline outside his tent. A barbecue sits on top of some bookshelves. The earth has been swept with a broom and a small drainage ditch draws a circle around the tent.

“It’s a lot of work,” he says. He tries to keep the tent warm with an insulated tarp. “I’ve got my heater, my Coleman stove. It’s not hot but at least, with the tarp, the cold doesn’t really get in.”

I feel for these people but the media in this country are bound and determined to downplay any link between Trudeau’s callous mass immigration scam and the housing crisis.

With Ontario’s Greenbelt once again off limits to developers, Toronto is ready to welcome denser, taller housing and help solve the affordability crisis that has forced people to flee the city, Mayor Olivia Chow said Friday.

Chow’s comments, after speaking to the Toronto Region Board of Trade, came a day after Premier Doug Ford scrapped a push to pave swaths of protected farmland that had mired his government in scandal over how the sites were selected.

I got a feeling there’s gonna be a spurt of neighborhood destroying shoddy rental towers going up.